A NEW SYSTEM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
In July, 1999, the relations between the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the military leadership deteriorated. Whatever followed is now a part of the history.
Army Once Again In Power
In short, democracy was dismantled once again on October 12, 1999. The general that Nawaz had promoted as the army chief while setting aside seniority, toppled the government on the pretext of one incident and took control of the state’s affairs. The elected prime minister and his close aides were sent behind bars. Like every military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, too made promises in his address to the nation, and blamed the civilian rulers. Then, a system of district and local governments was introduced. The military ruler termed it useful, saying it would ensure the transfer of powers and duties as well as accessible and prompt justice, and develop a sense of inclusion among the masses in the national affairs.
The local body elections were scheduled for December, 2000, set to be completed by August 14, 2001. They were to be held on non-party basis and the age limit was changed from 21 to 18. There were also reports of provincial finance commissions being set up along the lines of the federal authority (NFC), so they can issue their own grants. Chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau Lt. Gen. (retd) Syed Tanvir Hussain Naqvi played a vital role in its planning and initiation. He formally introduced it on March 23. While addressing a press conference at the time, he said that the district governments will be completely independent in their financial affairs.
The initiation of local bodies created a ruckus on the country’s political landscape. The MQM’s Rabita (coordination) Committee termed it a conspiracy against the urban areas of the province. Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) also opposed the system. Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan – its chairman – told media after a conference in Karachi that on one hand, the system proposes distribution of powers, while on the other, it suggests dissolution of all five districts to set up a city government on a divisional level to converge all powers with a centralized authority. He feared that doing so would create an impression of segregating Karachi from the rural areas, and this would be tantamount to dividing the province and harming the country’s interests. Javed Hashmi, Asfandyar Wali, Amin Fahim, and other political leaders were also part of that huddle.
Jamaat-e-Islami, after much debate and consulting people belonging to different schools of thought, decided to approve of the system and decided to participate in the local body elections. During the elections of 1979 and 1983, JI contested the local body polls with the name of Akhuwat Group, but some of the members advised that we participate in the forthcoming elections as ‘Al-Khidmat Group’. According to them, people know JI as a welfare organization due to dozens of its subsidiary bodies and extensive activity in the domain of public service, and the move would help convey to the people that the purpose of the elections is to serve people, something the party has already been doing.
The majority of the members agreed to this sound proposal. The public welfare wing of the party always operated separately and not one rupee meant for it was ever spent for a political purpose.
City District Government Karachi
Under the new system, Karachi was declared a city district. As per the division, it comprised 178 union councils and 18 towns. Each UC was to elect 21 candidates, including a nazim and naib (deputy) nazim. It merits mentioning here that no one in JI is ever an aspirant of an organizational or public office. In fact, wanting a post isn’t admirable and rather points to a lack of training. The JI made sure to finalize the candidates with the consensus of its workers and members at every step of the process. The votes were cast at the union council level on July 2. The Al-Khidmat group – JI candidates – secured a majority in more than 65 UCs, as well as they won the councilor seats in large numbers.
It was the party’s biggest win in any electoral contest since MQM’s rise, with due credit to the martyrs of JI and Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba who put up resistance to Altaf Hussain’s fascist politics and terrorism. On July 4, we offered a prayer in the space adjacent to Idara noor-e-haq to thank Allah for the resounding success. Under the new law, it was mandatory for the nazim and naib nazim to receive 50 percent of the votes, or else the election would be invalidated. The name for the city nazim was yet to be finalized when different political leaders began to visit Idara, as no party was in a position to elect a city or naib nazim on their own.
Though Al-Khidmat was the biggest group, we also needed an ally. The next few days saw back to back meetings; those who met us included PML-N’s Mamnoon Hussain, Jamshed Ahmad Khan and Tariq Khan, Haji Hanif Tayyab and Nusrat Mirza. JUI-P’s Muhammad Ahmad Siddiqui came to visit us accompanied by a delegation, followed by a visit from Captain (retd) Haleem Siddiqui. Captain Haleem – a leader of PML (Likeminded) and former MNA – apprised me about the group’s votes and requested our support for their member for the naib nazim slot, in return for theirs for our city nazim candidate. In fact, the panel for the naib nazim and nazim was supposed to be the same. The Karachi nazm and district chiefs felt it was a better option than the rest. We asked them the details of the potential naib nazim and they recommended Farooq Awan. He came to the Idara and held a meeting, but his educational documents had some issues so his name was withdrawn.
Then, Chaudhry Shujaat called and said his aides were positive about Aleem Adil Sheikh, but some of our members had some reservations about him, so this name was dropped as well. Finally, Tariq Hassan came and everyone thought good of him. He also promptly presented his academic record when asked to do so. His source of earnings was a hotel at the Cantt station. Despite being a novice to politics, he remained wholeheartedly invested in the entire electoral campaign.
Nomination For City Nazim
The polling for the city and town nazims was scheduled for August 2. There wasn’t much time left; the Karachi shura sent four names to the markaz to get approval for one of them. A few days later, I received a letter from Qazi Hussain Ahmad sahib, directing me to vie for the city nazim slot. I called Qazi sahib and rendered an apology as I told him that there are several young and capable people in JI Karachi, but he insisted that I should be the candidate for the post. I resigned JI’s the Karachi chief prior to electioneering. On July 14, Dr. Meraj-ul-Huda Siddiqui took oath as the JI’s interim chief of the city. He was previously managing district central, the same place that had elected the most UCs and councilors. The meeting with elected nazims and councilors continued even until a day before the polls. The PPP was contesting the election under the ‘democratic panel’, and party’s secretary information and former senator, Taj Haider was its candidate for city nazim.
Other candidates were Haji Hanif Tayyab (Ghareeb Nawaz Group), Siddiq Rathore (Al-Khadim), and Maulana Ehteram-ul-Haq (Watan Parast), but Al-Khidmat and Democratic Panel were the main contenders. The polling began at 9 AM on August 2. We kept moving from one camp to another the whole day. The visit to polling stations of the city and timely remedy of the issues were the engagements all day.When the results came out in the evening, some town nazims won with a majority, while the rest of the nazims were moved to the next round because they had not acquired a 50 percent majority. Those representing the Al-Khidmat group, including Abdul Wahab (Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town), Farooq Naimatullah (Gulberg), Faseehuddin Siddiqui (North Nazimabad), Shafiq-ur-Rehman Usmani (North Karachi), Dr. Pervez Mahmood (Liaquatabad), Ahmad Qasim Parekh (Jamshed Town), Azam Ali (Malir), Muhammad Shahid (Landhi), Abdul jamil khan (Korangi) were elected as nazims, while Islamullah Siddiqui became the deputy town nazim in the elections. Among the total of 3,632 votes cast for the city nazim and naib nazim, 1,757 were secured by our panel whereas the panel led by Taj Haider could manage 1,136. Haji Hanif Tayyab and Bostan Ali Hoti of the Ghareeb Nawaz panel together secured 512 votes.
Our panel now had the majority, but since the condition of 50 percent votes wasn’t met, a second round took place on August 8. Seeing our clear victory in the first round, more people decided to extend us their support, including PML-N’s Tariq Khan and Umair Akram Nadeem – son of former provincial minister Zuhair Akram Nadeem – as well as smaller groups of Orangi, Landhi, Korangi and Lyari. On August 8, Muhammad Tufail came to visit me in the wee hours, along-with some youth. I was a bit surprised seeing all of them, to which Tufail said: “You are just a ceremony away from becoming the nazim; an announcement is due by the evening, and so they are here for your security.”
I – in fact none of the JI high-ups – have never been eager of having personal security, but observing their enthusiasm, I decided to not turn it down at the time. It was drizzling that day. As the polling neared its completion, I concluded my visit to the camps and left for Idara. That’s when I received a call from BBC Urdu’s Shafi Naqi Jamai and he asked for my interview. I asked him to call a bit later, but he insisted for an immediate talk, to which I agreed. Shafi Naqi had earlier served as the president of Karachi University’s student union from the IJT’s panel, and he had strong ties with several high-ups of the JI’s city chapter, so it was hard to say ‘no’ to him.
We were on the call when I reached Idara where the vote count was about to be completed. A cell was operational there to receive minute-by-minute reports from all polling stations of the city. The momentum was that of a rally and the stage was set. The workers and leaders of different political parties were standing there carrying flowers. Their enthusiasm peaked upon seeing me. Overwhelmed with emotions, Nazim Iqbal lifted me to his shoulders. As per conclusive result, our panel received 2,060 votes against Taj Haider’s 1,511.
The announcement saw a roar of chants and jubilation. I praised Allah Almighty and congratulated the workers and other political parties, and called naib nazim Tariq Hassan my eighth son. Captain (retd) Haleem Siddiqui who was standing there, congratulated me and said: “Naimat sahib, we have honored our promise, this city awaits your attention now.” The party workers were so grateful, and rightly so, because the city was set to begin its journey towards lights and life yet again. I couldn’t recognize a lot of faces at the gathering, but their eyes were brimming with love and sincerity. A lot of women were a part of the gathering. After thanking everyone, I decided to meet Taj Haider sahib.
He used to live in a flat in DHA on his own. As I left for his house with Muhammad Tufail and a few others, a protocol car began to move along without an invite. At Tariq Road, I asked Miandad about the change of route, to which he said that we were being taken by the official vehicle to Quaid’s mausoleum. I rejected the idea because it was pointless to go there in the dark. I asked the driver to convey to them that instead of inviting a lot attention with their vehicle’s sirens, it should separate and let us go where we wanted to. I asked him to go straight to Taj Haider as I had heard that he went to bed early. We reached the second floor of his apartment in DHA and knocked on his door. He opened the door himself to welcome and congratulate us. Then he took us to the drawing room and went to the kitchen. He returned with a nice cup of tea. After sometime, I said goodbye to him and left for my house.
